Gary Busey has thanked his Celebrity Apprentice teammates for their constructive criticism.

The actor was fired by Donald Trump on Sunday night in an episode that saw him serving as project manager for Team Backbone in a cooking-themed task, and being criticised by teammates John Rich, Meat Loaf and Lil Jon in the boardroom.

John Rich had suggested that he was a "saboteur", became angry when the actor apparently called him "boy" off-camera, and told Mr Trump that Gary's stint as project manager had seen a "catastrophic collapse of time management" for the men.

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However, in a post-exit interview posted on the NBC show's official website, Busey insisted that he had a "good" time on the competition and was grateful to his teammates.

"I like John Rich a lot," he said. "I have a common bond with him in terms of music and family, but I failed to meet the standard of his acceptance of a good man in project leadership, so what he said about me is true and I accept it and thank him for it."

He added: "Thank you for being truthful to me. I very much respect your truthfulness and I will live by it and learn from it. That goes for Lil Jon and that goes for Meat Loaf. No matter what you guys felt about me, it's okay. I learned from it. I grow from it."

Busey had been playing for the Center for Head Injury Services, and previously won $40,000 for the charity when he project managed the men's team to a win in the camping challenge in episode three.